In April 2025, The Earned Time Act was approved by the New York State Corrections Committee, a small but meaningful step in the proposed law's arduous legislative pathway. This bill, which still needs to pass through the Assembly and Senate before being signed by the Governor and enacted into law, expands the amount of "good time" prisoners can earn off our sentences when we avoid disciplinary sanctions and complete our mandatory programs. Currently, New York State prisoners serving time for violent offenses can earn up to 15 percent of good time. Under the new law, we will be able to earn up to 50 percent of good time, along with an additional 25 percent of "merit time" for those who obtain a college degree or complete other volunteer programs, such as providing long-term tutoring for prisoners pursuing high school equivalency diplomas or vocational certifications. For some, this progressive reform may sound like an easy way for violent offenders to shorten our sentences and return to society unchanged. However, as someone who has been incarcerated for 17 years, I know prisoners meeting the criteria for early release are rehabilitated and ready for reentry.
It has never been easy for prisoners to earn “good time.” Avoiding disciplinary sanctions and completing mandatory programs takes a lot of effort and experience. Even prisoners hoping to immediately adjust to institutional expectations inevitably face different conflicts. Whether it's contending with the internal struggle of addiction or navigating unpleasant interactions with both peers and staff, the incarcerated are always at risk of losing good time for any "serious" disciplinary infraction. Tier 3 misbehavior reports are considered the most serious, and they can include a wide range of nonviolent offenses, such as "disobeying a direct order" or "testing positive for illegal substances." Historically, the ability to take away a prisoner's good time for even the most minimal of offenses has been wielded unjustly. I have personally witnessed prisoners lose over a year of good time because they could not control their addiction, or because an officer exaggerated about a disagreement they had.
Under the Earned Time Act, attempts to revoke a prisoner's good time will be subject to a higher level of scrutiny. This will ensure good time is not taken away arbitrarily and capriciously, while still providing a means to distinguish prisoners who have serious disciplinary issues from those who do not. Those who manage to adjust to incarceration without incurring too many disciplinary infractions will have undoubtedly demonstrated they have the skills necessary to navigate complex social dynamics without conflict, yet this alone is not enough to ensure prisoners earn our good time.
In addition to formally losing good time through the disciplinary process, prisoners also risk losing good time for failing to complete our mandatory programs. These typically include General Equivalency Diplomas, Vocational Certifications, Anger Regression Treatment, and Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment. In theory, completing these essential programs should only require a genuine effort. In reality, however, a large portion of the population are denied access to these programs because of staffing issues.
During the 17 months I have been in Elmira Correctional Facility in New York, most prisoners have been denied the opportunity to participate in their mandatory programs. In some cases, this denial has prevented prisoners from earning their good time and being released. Jorge Martinez, for example, has been incarcerated for approximately 10 years. Early in his incarceration, he asked to participate in programs, and he was told his placement in these programs could not be prioritized because he was not close enough to his time of release. As he neared his release date, staffing issues at Elmira prohibited him from obtaining and participating in the programs required for conditional release. On May 5, Martinez was informed that he would not be able to earn his good time and make his conditional release date in August 2025 because he did not complete the mandatory programs he was denied access to. Instead, he will have to wait over a year to be released, leaving him to do another year in prison, and leaving his daughter to go another year without her father. As we see in this one very recent example, denying prisoners the access to programs not only restricts us from receiving the training we need to successfully reenter society, it also prevents us from earning our good time and reuniting with our families.
When reached for comment, the NYS DOCCS stated that Martinez did not earn good time because of "extensive disciplinary behavior which also impacted the individual’s ability to participate in and complete recommended programming," but also claimed that Martinez has been participating in required programming since January 2025. Martinez says he, like everyone else I know in Elmira, has not had access to mandatory programs at any point this year. Furthermore, a NYS DOCCS document dated April 15 detailing the Time Allowance Committee's review of Martinez's eligibility for conditional release makes no mention of any disciplinary issues. It states simply: "Withhold all good time due to failure to complete required programs." The NYS DOCCS did not answer questions about how staffing issues are affecting inmates' access to mandatory programs.
Even those fortunate enough to find placement in these programs may still struggle to complete them. Some of these programs require close to a year of consistent participation, which means if a prisoner is taken out of a program for any reason, even when we are not at fault, we may have to restart the entire program, or take a different program if the program we were in before is not available. The Earned Time Act does not address this programming issue directly, but the release of rehabilitated prisoners will allow the state to adequately address staffing issues, hopefully ensuring more prisoners are afforded the access to programming they deserve.
With productive programming being made more accessible to the imprisoned population, there will be more opportunities for prisoners to earn college degrees or participate in other volunteer programs that can better prepare us for release. Under the current law, prisoners who complete these additional programs can receive an additional time credit of six months; the Earned Time Act allows prisoners to earn up to 25 percent off our sentences by completing such programs.
As a prisoner who has earned my associates degree during my incarceration, I am certain expanding this time credit benefits both those inside and outside the carceral space. Earning a degree in prison requires an unrivaled ability to navigate toxic social dynamics and an unwavering dedication to our studies. Those disciplined enough to see this process through in spite of transfers, lockdowns, lost assignments, and the outright hatred of correctional staff come out ready for whatever we may encounter when released. This isn’t anecdotal. Statistics show prisoners who obtain a college degree have only a six percent recidivism rate, a two-thirds reduction compared to those who did not receive a degree. Between the increase in employment opportunities associated with a college degree and the skills acquired through maintaining a commitment to education while incarcerated, people who have completed college in prison have historically always done well when released. For this reason, the bill has been endorsed by many of the state’s major labor unions. Additionally, the opportunity for an earlier release will incentivize a larger portion of the imprisoned population to participate in these transformative programs, essentially increasing the amount of prisoners who are ready to reintegrate into society.
Each prisoner's journey of self discovery and recovery is different. As such, the amount of time it will take for each prisoner to be ready for release will be different as well. In spite of this basic understanding, the current law assumes an arbitrary amount of prison time with limited opportunities for early release, regardless of individual progress, best suits the population. The Earned Time Act more practically assesses each prisoner's productivity and releases those who demonstrate readiness for reentry. Although many may feel most of us deserve to be punished for the crimes that led to our incarceration, it’s important to remember that the purpose of the carceral space is not simply to punish. Its goal is to change our way of thinking and living so we can become productive members of our society. When the incarcerated are changed and ready to be released, prolonging their imprisonment becomes something beyond rehabilitation. It becomes a purely punitive means of pushing people past their breaking points and pulling families apart.
As someone who has demonstrated proper "custodial adjustment" for many years now, I have experienced the effects of this purely punitive approach to incarceration. I have simply waited for the arbitrary sentence I received as a teenager to run out. I have waited while my family has grown older and grown apart. I have waited while those outside grew tired of waiting for me. If the Earned Time Act had been passed sooner, I would have been freed many years ago. Many others who have learned their lessons and properly prepared themselves for release in spite of all the obstacles we encounter in here would have been freed long ago as well. Fortunately, it's not too late to free us now. Support the Earned Time Act.
